What typography trends are forecast for 2018 and how can you use them?
Trend 6. Variable fontsts
By Sarah Hyndman

Part 6 in a series of posts looking at typography trends that we predict will influence graphic design in 2018, and explaining how you can incorporate each trend into your work.

1. Vernacular / 2. Neutral & universal / 3. Personality / 4. The return of flares & serifs / 5. Colour fonts / 6. Variable fonts / 7. Fashion / 8. Trend forecasters

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6. Variable fonts
SECTOR: DESIGN

HOW TO USE THIS TREND: Variable fonts will enable you to use type in a more flexible way with an infinite range of options within a single font file that will load faster. Keep up to date with developments if you would like to embrace this innovation.

Typo Labs 2018 Brand Identity by Bernd Volmer

Typography trends for 2018, 5. Colour fonts

January 8, 2018

• Typography trends

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What typography trends are forecast for 2018 and how can you use them?
Trend 5. Colour fonts
By Sarah Hyndman

Part 5 in a series of posts looking at typography trends that we predict will influence graphic design in 2018, and explaining how you can incorporate each trend into your work.

1. Vernacular / 2. Neutral & universal / 3. Personality / 4. The return of flares & serifs / 5. Colour fonts / 6. Variable fonts / 7. Fashion / 8. Trend forecasters

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5. Colour fonts
SECTOR: DESIGN

HOW TO USE THIS TREND: Incorporate layers and colour to add depth, dynamism and innovation to your work. Experiment with type to create dynamic designs that push boundaries.

The rise of the emoji has pushed technology to evolve and enable these colourful symbols to be included in running text. Excitingly, this innovative OpenType-SVG technology now means that it is also possible to place multiple colours, layers and gradients into font files creating colour (or chromatic) fonts on the web. Each layer is assigned its own colour, resulting endless combinations within flowing text. This is technology in its early days, not yet supported across all platforms, but it will evolve quickly as designers explore the possibilities. Typographer and writer Nicole Arnett Phillips (http://www.typographher.com) says, “I think we are in for radical changes (and hopefully some exciting new experimentation/innovation) ahead with these formats”.

Typography trends for 2018, 4. The return of flares & serifs

January 5, 2018

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What typography trends are forecast for 2018 and how can you use them?
Trend 4. The return of flares & serifs
By Sarah Hyndman

Part 4 in a series of posts looking at typography trends that we predict will influence graphic design in 2018, and explaining how you can incorporate each trend into your work.

1. Vernacular / 2. Neutral & universal / 3. Personality / 4. The return of flares & serifs / 5. Colour fonts / 6. Variable fonts / 7. Fashion / 8. Trend forecasters

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4. Serifs
SECTOR: DESIGN

HOW TO USE THIS TREND: Add a flared or a serif typeface to create warmth and convey depth of knowledge.

Flared letterforms and serifs are making a reappearance on the main typographic stage and this is a trend set to continue as the serifs get more pronounced. These have warmth and personality, “I think this is a reaction against the cold, sterile neo-grotesques like Helvetica that seem to be dominating the design landscape.” says Typewolf’s Jeremiah Shoaf. In addition, traditional sign writing has had a resurgence in recent years. As a result the flared styles often created when using a paint brush are increasingly reappearing on the high-street and also being taught to graphic designers in sign writing workshops. Below is the work of London’s Pete Hardwicke featured in Spitalfields Life. Throughout history styles from different mediums have influenced each other, as is also happening with chromatic type (to be featured in trend 6).

Typography trends for 2018, 3. Personality

January 4, 2018

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What typography trends are forecast for 2018 and how can you use them?
Trend 3. Personality
By Sarah Hyndman

Part 3 in a series of posts looking at typography trends that we predict will influence graphic design in 2018, and explaining how you can incorporate each trend into your work.

1. Vernacular / 2. Neutral & universal / 3. Personality / 4. The return of flares & serifs / 5. Colour fonts / 6. Variable fonts / 7. Fashion / 8. Trend forecasters

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3. Personality
SECTOR: DESIGN

HOW TO USE THIS TREND: Choose a sans serif typeface with rhythm and contrast to create tone of voice and personality.

Despite the continuing reign of the neutral sans serifs, change is in the air. The perfect geometric shapes are giving way to styles with contrast between the thick and thin strokes, personality and individuality, and sometimes a hint of history. Type Tasting research shows that letterforms with contrast are associated with content being more interesting or better informed.

Typography trends for 2018, 2. Neutral & universal

January 3, 2018

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What typography trends are forecast for 2018 and how can you use them?
2. Neutral & universal
By Sarah Hyndman

Part 2 in a series of posts looking at typography trends that we predict will influence graphic design in 2018, and explaining how you can incorporate each trend into your work.

1. Vernacular / 2. Neutral & universal / 3. Personality / 4. The return of flares & serifs / 5. Colour fonts / 6. Variable fonts / 7. Fashion / 8. Trend forecasters

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2. Neutral & universal
SECTOR: DESIGN

HOW TO USE THIS TREND: select a neutral and easy-to-read typeface family when you wish to be clear, accessible and for type to function like an invisible carrier of words. You may wish to combine this with a more decorative typeface for titles or headings, or to add a complimentary serif typeface to vary the tone of voice.

Geometric and neutral sans serif type styles continue to be ubiquitous, both as existing styles licensed from type libraries and for bespoke typefaces commissioned by companies. The current top three most popular typeface in the Typekit library are geometric sans serifs (Proxima Nova, Futura and Museo Sans). At number one is Proxima Nova Designed by Mark Simonson, which is a huge family of 48 sans serif fonts that gives a great deal of flexibility for designers to use across all touchpoints. Some font superfamilies also have serif fonts paired with the sans serifs, giving you the option to mix and match type styles harmoniously.

What typography trends are predicted for 2018 and how can you use them?

January 2, 2018

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What typography trends are predicted for 2018 and how can you use them?
By Sarah Hyndman

Keeping up with trends in typography can give you inspiration that keeps your design ideas fresh, or can enable you to differentiate yourself from (or align yourself with) your competitors. It also keeps you up to date with the exciting innovations happening in technology that could transform the future of visual communication.

Based on the predictions of trend forecasters, experts and our observations, these are the top trends that we predict will influence typography in 2018 and beyond. We will take a look at each trend, the sector it is likely to appear in, and explain how you could use it.

1. Vernacular / 2. Neutral & universal / 3. Personality / 4. The return of flares & serifs / 5. Colour fonts / 6. Variable fonts / 7. Fashion / 8. Trend forecasters

Trend 1. Vernacular
SECTOR: ADVERTISING

HOW TO USE THIS TREND: Select typefaces that have visual references pulled from a particular era or genre to add layers of meanings to your words, to trigger nostalgia, or to provoke a debate. You could include obscure references to be recognised only by people in the know.

Typography featuring vernacular references pulled from a particular era or genre. These are intended to add layers of meaning or embed ideas from popular culture into the typeface design, sometimes adding clues or reference points to be recognised by those in the know. These styles are often intended to be ephemeral and conceived with the thinking of an instant-impact advertising campaign, rather than a brand identity built for longevity. Type designer Bruno Maag explained at a recent Type Thursday meet up that this reflects the trend he sees towards ad agency-led rebrands, which produce results designed for impact but not long-term functionality, and he suggests that advertising agencies are increasingly taking over the traditional role of the branding agency.

Example: Formula 1 rebrand by Wieden+Kennedy
Use type styles with nostalgic references in the details to appeal to a new audience.

Looking back over an exciting 2017, part 3

December 21, 2017

• Books, • Case Studies, • Events, • Games & Demonstrations, • International Teaching, • Interviews, • Multi Sensory, • Press, • Psychology, • Research, • Talks, • Workshops

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This is the third and final instalment reviewing Type Tasting in 2017: judging, the Type Tasting pop-up lab, publications and interviews.

Type Tasting founder Sarah Hyndman has continued her mission to make typography relevant and engaging beyond the world of design, and continues to work on proof-of-concept ideas to show that design can create positive change. She has judged design awards, the Type Tasting pop-up lab has continued to gather data, both her latest book and a new collaborative study have been published and she has appeared in interviews from The Times to Channel 4’s Sunday Brunch.

Judging
Sarah has been involved with the D&AD for a number of years; as a judge for their professional and student design awards, and as a bespoke typography course lead. She continues to work with students and was delighted to be invited to judge the Penguin student book cover awards this year.

• D&AD professional design awards 2017 (Yellow Pencil: Type Voice by Ogilvy New York)
• Penguin student book cover awards 2017 (winner: Madalyn Farley, Kingston University)

Pop-up Lab
Sarah has been researching perception of typefaces and multisensory typography for four years, both online and at events. The Type Tasting pop-up lab has appeared at a number of events this year to gather data both for scientific studies and a future book that Sarah will begin writing next year. Thank you to everybody who has taken part.

• Oxford Symposium (Hacking flavour perception: Design, technology, & gastrophysics)
• Stoke Newington Literary Festival
• Tate Modern
• Victoria & Albert Museum
• Shoreditch House

“A fascinating insight into how type can influence our feelings, our senses, and even our taste” Professor Charles Spence, University of Oxford

Published
The second of Sarah’s books were published this year, with a well-attended launch event at the Tate Modern and an appearance on Channel 4’s Sunday Brunch as their typography expert.
‘How to Draw Type & Influence People: An Activity Book’ by Sarah Hyndman, Laurence King Publishing. D&AD illustration award entry.

The latest collaborative study with Professor Charles Spence of the Crossmodal Research Laboratory at the University of Oxford has also been accepted for publication, this is the first to use data gathered by the pop-up lab earlier in the year.
‘The role of typeface curvilinearity on taste expectations and perception’ by Carlos Velasco, Sarah Hyndman (Type Tasting) & Professor Charles Spence (Department of Experimental Psychology, University Oxford), 2018, International Journal of Gastronomy and Food Science.